Slack-adjuster.



No. 7|o,36|. Y l Patented sept. 3u, |902.

w. .1. KEvlLLE & .1. P. CAREY.

' SLACK ADJUSTER.

v (Applici-Ltion led'Apr. 7, 1902. (No Model.)

ATTO/wmf INVENTORS w: ohms PETERS co. PHorc-Lxmo., wnsnmmon. o. c.

WITNESSES:

Patented Sept. 30, l9U2. W. J. KEVILLE & J. P. CAREY.

SLACK ADJUSTER.

Applicatioln led Apr. 7, 1902.

(No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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UNiTnD STATES lVILLIAh'I J. KEVILLE AND JAMES P. CAREY, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

SLACK-A'DJUSTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 710,361, dated September 30, 1902.

To a/ZZ whom, ninety concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM J. KEvILLE and JAMES I).V CAREY, citizens of the United States of America, residing at Denver, in the county of Arapahoe and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Slack-Adjusters; and we do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specitication.

Our invention relates to improvements in slack-adjusters or means for automatically taking up the superfiuous slack of the brakeshoes and brake-rigging in railway air-brake systems. Our object is to provide an apparatus of this class which shall be simple in construction, economical in cost, reliable, durable, and thoroughly practicable in use and automatic in action; and to these ends the invention consists of the features, arrangements, and combinations hereinafter described and claimed, all of which will be fully understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which is illustrated an embodiment thereof.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a top or plan view of the brake-rigging of a car equipped with our improvements. In this figure a sixwheeled truck is shown at one end of the car, the other end of the latter being broken away. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a View, partly in section, on the line .9c Q2, Fig. 4, showing on a larger scale our improved lgearing arrangement for taking up slack. In this View one-half of the housing inclosing the gears is removed. Fig. I is a section taken through the housing on the line y fg, Fig. 3, viewed in the direction of the arrow. Fig. is a section taken through the air-cylinder containing the coil-springs which act to take up the slack. This view is on a smaller scale than Figs. 3 and 4.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the views.

Let the numeral 5 designate the brake-cylinder of an ordinary air-brake system. A

brake-lever l5 of the truck is operated from Application filed April 7, 1902. Serial No. 101,667. (No model.)

the brake-cylinder through the instrumentality of rods 7,- S, and 9 and levers 10, 12, 13, and 14, all of which are of ordinary construction and arrangement. The lower extremity of the lever 6 is connected by a rod 15 with a brake-beam 16, carrying the shoes 17 of one pair of wheels. The lever 6 is also suitably connected with the 'brake-beams 18 and 19, carrying the shoes 17 of the other pairs of wheels. As these connections are of ordinary construction it is not believed necessary to describe them more in detail.

An important feature of our improvement is employed in connection with the rod 15, which consists of two parts and 15C, the division being about midway between its extremities. To the adjacent extremities of these two parts we respectively apply bevelgears 21 and 22, having sleeves 21L and 22, respectively. These gears both mesh with a larger similar gear 23, made fast to a spindle or shaft 24, journaled in a housing 25, which consists of two parts screwed together by bolts passed through apertured lugs formed on the two housingmembers. The openings in the gears 2l and 22, through which the rods pass, are interiorly threaded to engage the threaded rod extremities. The outer extremities of the sleeves 21 and 22 of these gears engage shoulders 25, formed on the housing, whereby the gears are held in place against outward movement. The gears 21 and 22 engage the gears 23 on opposite sides, whereby as the last-named gear is rotated the gears 21 and 22 are turned in opposite directions, thereby moving the rod parts in opposite directions-that is to say, both inwardly or both outwardly-the rod extremities being both provided with right-hand threads.

Made fast to the shaft 24,outside of the housing 25, is a ratchet-wheel 26. Loosely mounted on this shaft adjacent the ratchetwheel is a lever-arm 27. On this lever is pivotally mounted a dog 2S, normally held in engagement with the ratchetwheel by a spring 29. A rod is connected with the upper extremity of this lever by a universal jaw or coupling 3l, adapted to permit the necessary movement when the device is in operation. The extremity of the rod 30 remote from the lever is pivotally connected IOO with a coupling 32, screwed upon the stem 33 jection 35C, through which the stem 33 passes' and in which it fits closely. The coupling 32 on the rod 30 engages this projection and limits the inward movement of the piston, leaving a space 36 between the two pistons for the introduction of air by way of a port 37.

Between each projection 35C and the outer wall of thecylinder-head is formed an annular recess 3S. Coiled around the piston-stem 33, between the piston and the outer extremity of the head, is a spring 39.

When the apparatus is `in use, a pipe 40 leads from the brake-cylinder to the port 37 of the cylinder 35. For this purpose the brake` cylinder 5 is tapped at a point slightly beyond the limit of normal travel of the brake-cylinder piston when there is no slack in the rigging or when the shoes 17 are at a normal distance from the car-wheels when the brakes are released. Hence when superfluous slack exists and the travel of the piston is farther than normal, the port in the brake-cylinder is opened to permit the escape of air therefrom to the cylinder 35 by way of the pipe 40. This air as it enters the chamber of the cylinder 35 fills the space 36 between the pistons 34 and forces the pistons outwardly against the inner extremities of the two head projections 35, which form stops for the pistons. The springs 39 are then compressed and their convolutions are forced into the annular recesses 38 of the cylinder. During this action of the pistons each rod 30 is actuated to throw its lever 27 to the dotted-line position in Fig. 2, the dog 28 in the meantime sliding freely over the teeth of the ratchet 26. This operation occurs during the movement of the brakecylinder piston incident to an application of the brakes. As soon as the brakes are released and the air escapes from the brake-cylinder the air of course passes out of the cylinder35. Eachspring39insaidcylinderthen recoils and moves its piston 34 inwardly to its limit of movement and actuates the lever 27 through the 4instrumentality i of the rod 30. This movement of the lever, by virtue of the engagement of its dog with the teeth ofthe ratchet-wheel 26, actuates the gear 23 and turns both gears 21a and 21C, whereby the brake-rod parts 15fL and 15 are moved toward each other or into the central space A, inclosed by the housing 25, shortening the rod 15 and taking up the slack of the brake-shoes and brake-rigging. As often as slack exists this operation is repeated at each application of the brakes. The space A between the extremities of the rod parts l5 and 15c is made of sufficient length to allow the taking up of slack until the brake-shoes are worn out.

When it becomes necessary to put in new shoes, the dog 28 is pressed to disengage it from the ratchet-wheel 26. A Wrench may then be applied to the outer extremity of the shaft 24 and the latter turned to move the rod parts outwardly to their normal or original position. If a wrench is not handy, any suitable device may be inserted in an opening 24, which is formed in the shaft 24 for the purpose, and the movement of the shaftlevers reversed for the purpose set forth.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is- 1. In a slack-adjuster,the combination with suitable air-brake mechanism, of a divided brake-rod so located as to take up slack when shortened, the adjacent rod extremities being threaded, an interiorly-threaded gear mounted on the threaded extremity of each rod, a third gear meshing with the two gears of the rod, a shaft upon which the third gear is mounted and made fast, a ratchet also fast on the shaft, a support for holding the gears in operative relation, a lever-arm loose on the shaft, a spring-held dog connected with the lever-arm and engaging the ratchet, an air-cylinder, a spring-held piston located therein, a rod connecting the piston-stem with the said lever-arm, and a conduit leading from the brake-cylinder to the air-cylinder, substantially as shown and described.

2. In a slackadjuster,the combination with air-brake mechanism, of a divided brake-rod located to take up slack when shortened, the adjacent extremitiesof said rod being threaded, an interiorly-threaded gear mounted on the threaded portion ot' each rod, a third gear meshing with the rod-gears, a shaft upon which the third gear is made fast, a housing inclosing the gears and inwhich the shaft is journaled, a ratchet-wheel also fast on the shaft, a lever-arm loose on the shaft, a springheld dog connected with the lever-arm and engaging the ratchet, an air-cylinder, a piston therein, an operative connection between the piston-stem and the said lever, a coilspring located between the piston and the cylinder-head, and means for introducing air from the brake-cylinder to the air-cylinder, the arrangement being such that the aircylinder piston is actuated to compress the spring, when the brake-cylinder has traveled beyond its normal limit, substantially as described.

3. The combination with fluidactuated brake mechanism, of a Huid-cylinder two pistons therein, a spring located between each piston and the head of the cylinder, means for introducing air from the brake-cylinder to the air-cylinder between the pistons when the brake-cylinder has traveled beyond a predetermined limit, means for taking up slack, and a suitable operative connection between said means and the pistons of the air-cylinder, substantially as described.

4. The combination with fluid actuated brake mechanism, of a Huid-cylinder, two pislOO IIO

tons therein, a coil-spring located between each piston and the head of the cylinder, and surrounding the piston-stem, means to limit the inward travel of the pistons, whereby a space is left between them for the introduction of fluid, means for introducing fluid from the brake-cylinder to the air-cylinderbetween the pistons, when the brake-cylinder piston has traveled beyond its normal limit, means for taking up slack, suitably located in the brake-rigging, and a suitable operative connection between said means and the pistons ofthe air-cylinder, substantially as described.

5. The combination with fluid-brake mechanism, of a divided brake-rod suitably located in the brake-rigging to take up slack as described, the adjacent extremities of the rod being threaded, an interiorly-threaded gear mounted on the threaded portion of each rod,

a third gear interposed between the two first` named gears and meshing with both, a support for holding the three gears in operative relation, a shaft on which the third gear is made fast, a ratchet-wheel also fast on said shaft, a lever-arm loose on the shaft, a dog carried bythe lever-arm and engaging the ratchet whereby the lever may be moved in one direction without turning the shaft, and suitable means connected with said lever and operated by fluid from the brake-cylinder, for actuating the lever to take up slack, substantially as described..

6. The combination with Huid-brake mechanism, of an air-cylinder, two pistons located therein, means to limit the normal travel of the pistons. whereby a central space is left between them, the heads of the cylinder being provided with inward projections having an annular space between them and the outer walls of the cylinder-heads, said projectionsforming stops to limit the outward movement of the pistons, springs located between the pistons and the cylinder-head extremities, means for introducinguid from the brakecylinder, to the central space of the air-cylinder when the brake-cylinder has traveled beyond a predetermined limit, slack-adjusting devices, and means for connecting the pistons of the air-cylinder in operative position with said devices, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM J. KEVILLE. JAMES P. CAREY. Vitnesses:

DENA NELSON, A. J. OBRIEN. 

